Dotting Nail Art & An Update

Hello blogosphere!

Sorry I've been so MIA. I'm studying for the February Arizona Bar Exam.... which is in just three weeks. So that's taking most of my time. I was also working full time until two days ago but now I have a month off.

I probably won't update again until after the test, but here are TWO NOTDs featuring some dotting nail art. My Dad got me dotting tools for Christmas and they have been so FUN to play with. So far, my favorite nail art to do, next to a scotch tape mani.

This is Zoya Aurora and OPI Stranger Tides with dotting in Sinful Colors Jungle Trail. I used scotch tape to make the line, so it would be really exact. I'm also horrible at free handing (caffiene shakes!).

I must say, these are probably three of my favorite colors. Zoya Aurora is a breeze to apply and it looks breathtaking. I love the unique color of Stranger Tides and Jungle Trail is just such a staple. I should've gotten a backup!

Second NOTD features China Glaze Sea Spray. Here it is on it's own. I LOVE this polish. I heard it's being discontinued, so sad! Glad I got a bottle. 

Here's my dotticure! Featuring Wet n Wild Poison Ivy, Sinful Colors Supernova and Sinful Colors Hot Wired. I LOVED this mani. My boyfriend said it was his favorite mani I've ever done (he's seen a lot). Definitely doing something similar again!! 

And that's all folks! See you after the bar! 

NYE Manicure! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!! Here's a healthy and happy 2013. I need to work on my resolutions, I definitely will have some, but just not sure what they are yet. I know one will be to make a post at least ONCE a week to the blog. 

I'm sharing my manicure for New Year's Eve today. I LOVE this mani. It's probably my favorite of the last few weeks. 

It's China Glaze I'm Not Lion with an accent nail of Sinful Colors Kissy topped with OPI The Living Daylights. The OPI is from the Skyfall Collection. 

I got Kissy and The Living Daylights for Christmas from my Dad. He picked them out and everything!! I LOVE the way the Living Daylights looks over the glitter, I can't wait to use it more and more. It's a bit gloopy but what glitter topcoat isn't? 

Happy New Year!! 

Mariah Carey's Liquid Sand

I got my hands on the new Liquid Sand polishes from the Mariah Carey 2013 collection!!

I got them at a San Francisco beauty supply store for just $5! What a steal. Here are some bottle shots of the polish: 

I purchased The Impossible and Can't Let Go. These are the pink and purple shades of the collection.  

Here is the mani I did with the purple shade- Can't Let Go. I also did an accent nail of OPI Gift Cards for Everyone and Goldeye from the Skyfall collection. 

I LOVED these finishes. I've heard a lot of buzz about them and a lot of folks didn't like the texture and grittiness. But I love them!! I think they look so interesting. 

Can't Let Go has silver hexes as well as the general matte glitter which I love. It was super easy to apply, and the polish out of the bottle is liquid-y and glides on easily. It takes a while to dry, and I smudged this mani about 10-15 minutes after applying. So, I suggest doing it when you have time to wait. 

This is The Impossible. This one has silver stars, but I didn't get any of them in this application. I also did an accent nail with OPI Goldeneye dotted with Sally Hansen Slick Slate. I kind of screwed up the dotting, as you can see, but I'm new! And wanted to show the Liquid Sand despite the mess up....

I actually this The Impossible is my favorite. Also, super easy to apply. I love the texture, I don't find the grittiness to be annoying or unattractive. I just think it's a new different finish. I'm a big fan of matte and glitter, so this is a great combo to both!! I hope these stay in style for a while! 

Some More HOLIDAY Nails!

So I've basically stopped doing the Advent Calendar Nail Challenge (there would only be a day left anyways!) Work got SO crazy and then I bought myself a stamper and went kind of crazy trying that one out... It's hard! 

Here are three manis from the challenge that I didn't post yet. 

ORNAMENTS! 

Sinful Color's Super Nova with Milani Red Sparkle and Gems. 

PINE: 

This was an awesomely fun skittle mani. 

Thumb- Orly Buried Alive

Pointer- Color Club Nouveau Vintage

Middle- Color Club Ho-Ho-Holly

Ring- China Glaze Running in Circles

Pink- Milani Hi Tech

STARRY NIGHT

Spoiled My Parking Meteor Expired

China Glaze Snowglobe

Wet n Wild Star of the Show

Merry Christmas all! 

Advent Calendar Post #2

More manis from the advent calendar challenge!! 

Here is SILVER!! 

It's Sinful Colors Heavy Metal from the Metallics collection and Pure Ice Stop and Stare. 

As you can see, the Sinful Colors already had a chip in it-ugh!! Usually their polishes do better, but I think maybe because this one was a foil, it had a different formula. Anyways, I LOVED the Pure Ice color. It's from their new Walmart polishes, and I just love it. So glad I bought it! 

This was BLUE and WHITE! I made a Jelly Sandwich with OPI Don't Touch my Tutu and the Milani Gold glitter from the Jewel FX Collection. The accent is 007 Nail Laquer in Forever Young. This is one I found for $1 at a beauty supply in San Francisco. I bought a lot of polishes this way, some were great and some not so much. This one is a beautiful duochrome that I just loved! Very glad I bought it! 

Stay Tuned for more!! 

Advent Calendar Nail Challenge Days 2 & 3

I'm doing the Advent Calendar Nail Challenge for December (probably not all) but here are the manis from days 2 and 3! 

Day 2 was gold. I don't have a regular gold, but I have an opaque glitter (Milani Gold Glitz). I wasn't feeling it so I thought I'd do a glitter polish with a little gold in it!! This is China Glaze Foie Gras topped with Once Upon a Polish Queen of Hearts. 

Queen of Hearts is probably one of my favorite polishes. The glitter is nice and big, always lays flat. The only annoying thing is you really have to fish to get hearts, and then separate them, as I did not do in this mani. They're all on the ring finger! But that's ok, still a beautiful polish!! You can buy them here. 

Day 3 was green. I was really excited for this one because I wanted to use my new China Glaze Running in Circles! It's from the Cirque du Soliel collection and it's LOVELY. I matted this mani, mostly for the flakies, but I love it matte, too. I think it's a great polish for the holidays and for spring & summer! 

The accent nail is Sally Hansen Black Out (my new favorite black) topped with Zoya Opal. The whole thing is matted with NYC Matte Top Coat. I haven't used Opal as much as I'd like, but I think it really looks good over black and I just don't wear black much! Now that I have the Sally Hansen I might. 

Anyways, enjoy!! I loved this mani, so bright and fun! 

Sunlight pics: 

This challenge has been great so far! Really pushing me to do more manis! Stay tuned for the rest of the month!! 

Glitter Gradient all the Way!

So I've been really into glitter gradients lately. I want to try and jazz up my manis more- add glitter to a glitter type of thing.

Anyways, here are TWO NOTDS!

The first is from earlier this week.

It's China Glaze Creative Fantasty, which is from the new Cirque du Soliel collection. I really liked this collection, and wish I had the funds to get the whole thing! Also, a lot of the colors are dupe-able. I have similar ones, but I just loved how they all looked together.

Anyways, onto the nails!

3 coats China Glaze Creative Fantasy
Gradient of- China Glaze Fairy Dust and Sally Hansen Multi-Faceted.

Now, today was DAY ONE for the Advent Calendar Nail Challenge. Very Exciting. 

Day one is RED! So for my red I did Essie Really Red, accent nail of Essie Penny Talk. I just got Penny Talk in a swap and while I love the color, it is annoying formula! 

The glitter is FingerPaints Fall of Surprises!